In the Nest

To Tsumeb, Namibia

Dex and Kylie have started taking an interest in birds, especially since we got a small guide book with pictures of all the park animals. Although there are two pages picturing the various land animals, there are five for all the birds, from ostriches and the world's heaviest flying bird, the Kory Bustard (up to 45 lbs), to the small Social Weaver responsible for the giant nests that sometime break tree limbs from their weight. Camping right next to us was a young couple from South Africa, Grant and Jessica. They are serious birders and pointed out some of the birds in the campsite for Dex and Kylie. Jessica's goal is to identify every species of bird in Africa!

Purple Roller

Hornbill - a noisy bird

Social Weaver

Peeking out

Jessica, Grant, and Dex

Since we only had two nights reserved in the park, we needed to leave today.  To make the most of the park, however, we decided to drive all the way to the eastern entry gate and see as many animals as possible. We stopped at five or six different waterholes along the way. At Halali, we arrived to see a dozen Kudu and Impalas at the waterhole. Twenty minutes later, they had all wandered off, replaced by a zeal of no fewer than 30 zebras all lined up along the back edge of the pool. So cool.  

Female Kudu and lots of Impala

Male Kudu

Later, we were lucky enough to find animals right along the sides of the road on the way out of the park, making for some great pictures.

Hardebeest

Late in the afternoon, we finally made it to the exit gate. The few cars lined up were being inspected for animal meat, ivory, rhino horns etc. The ranger decided to have a bit of fun and asked Kylie where the ostrich eggs were.  Meg, not hearing the “ostrich” part, quickly volunteered, “We ate them!”  Fortunately, Kylie seemed to understand, and looking questioningly at him suggested, “In the nest?”  He let us go.

For the evening we drove to the town of Tsumeb and once again, at the last minute, found a nice campground -- Olympic sized pool, park like expanse of green grass, and super nice bathrooms, each one with a huge private shower, sink and toilet. In the camp, we met a family from Ohio doing missionary work in eastern Namibia. Rob and Lindsay had just about finished their one year stay and now were enjoying a few weeks traveling around before flying home with their three young girls... and one more on the way. (Shh, it's still a secret.)

Despite my initial bellyaching about the ground tent, I've gotten to be pretty fast setting it up. Dinner consisted of warm bowls of Ramen noodles and some cookies for dessert. We've been lucky to see some great stuff in Namibia during the last 10 days. With that in mind, warm evening weather, an electrical outlet, and working WiFi (finally), I set my self up with the computer for a late night catching up on the blog posts. It was a nice reminder that working late in front of the computer was once a common occurrence and not one I've missed a lot. However, with the stars overhead, the rhythmic croak of frogs and periodic hooting of unseen birds, I didn't mind a bit.

Last night with the Ranger

Fellow missionary Amanda with Lindsay, Rob and the girls